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A Drinkable Feast: A Cocktail Companion to 1920s Paris
Winner of the 13th Annual Spirited Award, for Best New Book on Drinks Culture, History or Spirits
A history of the Lost Generation in 1920s Paris told through the lens of the cocktails they loved
In the Prohibition era, American cocktail enthusiasts flocked to the one place that would have them--Paris. In this sweeping look at the City of Light, cocktail historian Philip Greene follows the notable American ex-pats who made themselves at home in Parisian cafes and bars, from Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein to Picasso, Coco Chanel, Cole Porter, and many more.
A Drinkable Feast reveals the history of more than 50 cocktails: who was imbibing them, where they were made popular, and how to make them yourself from the original recipes of nearly a century ago. Filled with anecdotes and photos of the major players of the day, you'll feel as if you were there yourself, walking down the boulevards with the Lost Generation.
A history of the Lost Generation in 1920s Paris told through the lens of the cocktails they loved
In the Prohibition era, American cocktail enthusiasts flocked to the one place that would have them--Paris. In this sweeping look at the City of Light, cocktail historian Philip Greene follows the notable American ex-pats who made themselves at home in Parisian cafes and bars, from Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein to Picasso, Coco Chanel, Cole Porter, and many more.
A Drinkable Feast reveals the history of more than 50 cocktails: who was imbibing them, where they were made popular, and how to make them yourself from the original recipes of nearly a century ago. Filled with anecdotes and photos of the major players of the day, you'll feel as if you were there yourself, walking down the boulevards with the Lost Generation.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
19 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 4, 2021
Arranged alphabetically by drink name rather than by date, arrondissement, or any other helpful device, each of the approximately 60 small chapters in this book seems intended to provide a stand‐alone experience that can be downed in one gulp. Sadly, the task of making even such small essays comprehensible proves beyond Mr Greene’s editorial team.
The most frequent failing is a lack of cross‐referencing when specific bars and bartenders are mentioned. Take for example a bar called Dingo, which plays a role in a half‐dozen chapters. Its first three mentions—in “Dôme Cocktail”, “Jack Rose”, and “The Jimmie Special”—are all unhelpfully incidental (“…at 10 rue Delambre, the former address of the former Dingo…”), as if the reader would certainly be familiar with Dingo. It isn’t until the bar’s fourth mention—in “Quartier Latin Cocktail”, some 80 pages after the first—that Dingo is introduced to the reader as a “legendary watering [hole] of 1920s Montparnasse.”
Even when chapters aren’t falling victim to the sundering of critical information, they remain largely opaque. I turned to “French 75”, interested in Mr Greene’s take on the long‐running gin‐or‐cognac debate, and came away with absolutely no sense of the author’s position. Included in the chapter are recipes for a standard gin version, a gin version spiked with pastis, and a gin‐and‐calvados old fashioned (containing no lemon or bubbly); a quote from esteemed historian David Wondrich; and a footnote instructing the reader to go see one Chris Hannah in New Orleans for a cognac‐based rendition. From the flurry of disconnected commentary it seemed that Mr Greene might believe the cognac version to be an accidental hybrid of two unrelated drinks bearing the same name, but he does not state outright this hypothesis or any other. Instead he wraps up the chapter with the rather questionable assertion that the pastis‐spiked version is the one common today.
With these criticisms established, I’ll acknowledge that this book can be fun if read without critical thinking or inquisitiveness. Thumb to just about any page and you’ll find an amusing anecdote or a portrait of some larger‐than‐life character of the era. (Unsurprisingly, Mr Greene seems most at ease when waxing about Papa Hemingway.) The recipes aren’t good enough to keep A Drinkable Feast in the kitchen and the history isn’t lucid enough to keep it in the study, but the stories are sufficiently distracting to merit keeping this book within reach of the chiottes.
The most frequent failing is a lack of cross‐referencing when specific bars and bartenders are mentioned. Take for example a bar called Dingo, which plays a role in a half‐dozen chapters. Its first three mentions—in “Dôme Cocktail”, “Jack Rose”, and “The Jimmie Special”—are all unhelpfully incidental (“…at 10 rue Delambre, the former address of the former Dingo…”), as if the reader would certainly be familiar with Dingo. It isn’t until the bar’s fourth mention—in “Quartier Latin Cocktail”, some 80 pages after the first—that Dingo is introduced to the reader as a “legendary watering [hole] of 1920s Montparnasse.”
Even when chapters aren’t falling victim to the sundering of critical information, they remain largely opaque. I turned to “French 75”, interested in Mr Greene’s take on the long‐running gin‐or‐cognac debate, and came away with absolutely no sense of the author’s position. Included in the chapter are recipes for a standard gin version, a gin version spiked with pastis, and a gin‐and‐calvados old fashioned (containing no lemon or bubbly); a quote from esteemed historian David Wondrich; and a footnote instructing the reader to go see one Chris Hannah in New Orleans for a cognac‐based rendition. From the flurry of disconnected commentary it seemed that Mr Greene might believe the cognac version to be an accidental hybrid of two unrelated drinks bearing the same name, but he does not state outright this hypothesis or any other. Instead he wraps up the chapter with the rather questionable assertion that the pastis‐spiked version is the one common today.
With these criticisms established, I’ll acknowledge that this book can be fun if read without critical thinking or inquisitiveness. Thumb to just about any page and you’ll find an amusing anecdote or a portrait of some larger‐than‐life character of the era. (Unsurprisingly, Mr Greene seems most at ease when waxing about Papa Hemingway.) The recipes aren’t good enough to keep A Drinkable Feast in the kitchen and the history isn’t lucid enough to keep it in the study, but the stories are sufficiently distracting to merit keeping this book within reach of the chiottes.
November 17, 2020
If you're looking for an array of intricate cocktails popular in 1920's Paris, this is a great guide. If you're looking for obscure anecdotes of all the expats and their exploits during 1920's Paris then this is a rare treasure. Over the course of my years of research and many, many books on the people and the era, I thought I had uncovered all the stories and yet Greene has managed to compile personal story after story involving Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Picasso, Gerald and Sara Murphy and so many others that I had never heard before, all centered around the cafes and bars and the cocktails they drank -- I'm so glad I found this book, highly recommended.
October 7, 2020
Not only is this a compendium of cocktails popular in 1920s Paris, it is a fascinating history of the drinks and the expatriates who enjoyed them. Black and white photographs help make this a delightful book.
Highly recommended for history and entertaining buffs. 23-skidoo!
Highly recommended for history and entertaining buffs. 23-skidoo!
April 3, 2019
Go bar hopping with Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Joyce in Paris.
May 31, 2020
This is a gorgeous book with substantial content to match.
Each chapter corresponds to a cocktail popular in 1920's Paris, with recipes and bite sized historical vignettes regarding how they were created and who among the Lost Generation were fans.
Its a wealth of cocktail hour gossip that will entertain my noble bourbon boozers and fans of the literary Modernist movement alike.
The artifact itself is high quality hard bound, with a gorgeous blue color and fetching Art Deco typography. A sexy and alluring edition to the cocktail shelf of your bookcase to which you'll refer again and again.
I'd go on but I'm getting thirsty. To the bar!
Each chapter corresponds to a cocktail popular in 1920's Paris, with recipes and bite sized historical vignettes regarding how they were created and who among the Lost Generation were fans.
Its a wealth of cocktail hour gossip that will entertain my noble bourbon boozers and fans of the literary Modernist movement alike.
The artifact itself is high quality hard bound, with a gorgeous blue color and fetching Art Deco typography. A sexy and alluring edition to the cocktail shelf of your bookcase to which you'll refer again and again.
I'd go on but I'm getting thirsty. To the bar!
January 23, 2024
Romanticemos Paris de 1920's, se lo merece.
Las anécdotas fueron mi parte favorita.
Ahora quiero un sidecar.
Las anécdotas fueron mi parte favorita.
Ahora quiero un sidecar.
January 13, 2019
A fun amble along the boulevard Montparnasse that provides some literary and artistic history from the roaring twenties plus an insight into what the characters or the times were drinking. If you like reading about the Lost Generation, you can add this to your list of reads as one that brings a new angle to a now well known story.
January 31, 2021
In college, I took a history class on Paris and Berlin in the 20s. Didn’t retain much, it seems. This book, using cocktails as a through line, would have provided a little spark to make the material come alive. Still, I’m all about lifelong learning, and have already recreated some of the cocktails featured in the book.
September 30, 2021
Fantastic anecdotes from people in 1920s Paris. All the cocktail recipes are easy enough and only take one harder to find ingredient. This book will interest Francophiles, literary enthusiasts, history buffs, and cocktail nerd alike.
February 9, 2019
Loved it...for the recipes and the stories!
February 12, 2023
Fun! The author definitely has the flavour of the times down to the last drop.
June 27, 2022
So much fun if you love Paris, the 1920’s,and the Lost Generation. As a bonus, you will learn how to make some great drinks!
February 15, 2021
Interesting history & stories behind some of the best known classic cocktails - and some lesser known drinks to experiment with next time you crave a taste of the past.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews